According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36.7 square miles (95.1 km2), of which 12.6 square miles (32.6 km2) is land and 24.1 square miles (62.4 km2) is water, comprising 65.65% of the town.[4] The town is located on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean and includes four of the nine islands known as the Isles of Shoals, which lie approximately 10 miles (16 km) out from the mainland. The highest point in Rye is the summit of Breakfast Hill, at 151 feet (46 m) above sea level, on the town's border with Greenland.

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 5,182 people, 2,176 households, and 1,462 families residing in the town. The population density was 410.7 people per square mile (158.5/km²). There were 2,645 housing units at an average density of 209.6 per square mile (80.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.71% White, 0.14% African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.10% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.62% of the population.

There were 2,176 households out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.2% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the town the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 3.5% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 30.0% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $63,152, and the median income for a family was $74,956. Males had a median income of $51,131 versus $34,327 for females. The per capita income for the town was $36,746. About 1.6% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.4% of those under age 18 and 0.9% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2004, 1,345 registered voters in Rye were Democrats and 1,815 were registered Republicans. [1]

In August 2001, a group of townspeople from Newington and Rye made a plea in protest to the state legislature to consider allowing the town to secede from the state due to disproportionate property tax laws which had been passed by the state in 1997 to balance the state's education economy.[6] The dispute was largely quelled by the lack of support for the movement, as only 52 of Newington's 700+ (and 100 of Rye's 5,000) residents signed the petition. The property tax issue itself quieted as Governor Craig Benson announced in 2003 the property taxes would be cut almost by half by 2008.

Children who live in Rye can attend public schools in town from kindergarten through eighth grade. School Administrative Unit 50 (SAU-50) is the school district that serves Rye, as well as the towns of Greenland, Newington, and New Castle. High school students from Rye attend Portsmouth High School.

Rye Elementary School is home to kindergarten through fifth grade and is the first and largest school students from Rye will attend in SAU-50. All grades are coed and the school has an eleven to one student per teacher ratio with three hundred and thirty students enrolled in October of 2013. Rye Junior High handles grades six, seven, and eight. The neighboring town of New Castle sends its students to Rye Junior High after sixth grade, but only contributes a few students to each year's seventh grade class. All grades are coed and contain two hundred and twenty students as of October 2013 with a ratio of nine students to each teacher.

There are two private pre-schools in the town. Rye Country Day is the larger of the two pre-schools in town, currently enrolling one hundred and forty students (as of October 2013). The second, The Children's House Montessori school, is located at 80 Sagamore Road and has a student per teacher ratio of eleven to one.

Learning Skills Academy is a private non-profit school catering to students with learning capabilities. The organization has a location at 1237 Washington Road in Rye and accepts students in fifth through eleventh grade, as well as third. Thirty two kids make up the student body at the Rye location as of October 2013.